“I don’t usually shift half-way like this.”
“You should do it all the time. Hang on, are there other kinds of animal-people? Like werewolves?”
“There…” He almost mentioned his neighbors, but that wasn’t his information to disclose. “No, that’s not my story.”
Declan rolled his eyes. “You’re no fun at all. How about aliens. Are there aliens?”
Geir gave him an incredulous look. “You mean people from other planets?”
Declan nodded.
“Not to my knowledge.”
Declan sighed dramatically. He was stroking along Geir’s tentacle now, running two fingers between the rows of suckers at the tip. Geir felt himself growing hard. And since there still weren’t any clothes between them, there was no way Declan couldn’t feel it pressing against his hip.
“Oh my God. How do you change color like that?”
Geir couldn’t remember the last time he’d tried to explain it. Maybe never. “I… I don’t really know. Sometimes I can control it,” he made his tentacles flash red and then blue, “but usually it just happens without me noticing.”
“It looked like they were matched to what was behind them before, like the color of my skin and the green blanket. But what do black and white stripes mean?”
“That’s, um…” Geir felt his face growing hot.
Declan laughed, that carefree bubbly sound that filled the room with warmth. “It means you’re horny, right?”
Geir grunted. He wasn’t going to admit it.
Declan squirmed in his lap, his intentions clear. “Well, you can put your horny tentacles wherever you want them.”
“I think squids do it to attract their mates,” Geir finally grumbled. “You can see contrasts better under water.”
“Ooh! So are you a squid?”
“I’m a kraken.” He didn’t see the harm in naming himself now. Any damage had already been done.
“Wow. I thought krakens were myths. Though I guess it doesn’t get more mythical than a human who can change into a sea monster. Or are you a sea monster that can change into a human? Wait, is that offensive? How do you identify? I mean, you’re not a monster. I don’t think that at all. I guess I have some stereotypes about krakens, but I promise I’ll learn. Just let me know what language I should use.”
Geir didn’t quite understand all of that, but he’d picked up on one thing. “You don’t think I’m a monster?” Most people saw Geir as a horrifying beast. A nightmare. A freak. To allies in battle, he was a killer, a weapon on their side. To enemies, he was often the last thing they saw.
“I mean, only if you identify that way. But you’re not monstrous, you know. You’re kind and sexy and a little quiet, but I like that about you as long as you don’t mind that I talk too much.”
“You don’t talk too much.” Declan talked a lot, but it was like the fresh flow of a river or a field of flowers bursting into bloom. Geir liked it.
“You’ll get sick of it eventually,” Declan muttered into his chest.
Geir didn’t think that was possible, though it seemed too soon to say so. They’d known each other for less than a day, but everything felt right. Declan was his last ray of sun. He tightened his tentacles and pulled Declan in closer, eliciting a happy sigh of relaxation.
He ran a human hand down Declan’s chest. The round welts from his suckers were darker than before, like he’d burst the capillaries under Declan’s skin. “I’m hurting you.” He traced his finger over one larger red circle that overlapped a few smaller ones. Some of the welts had a small, neat crescent moon of scratches along one side.
Declan looked up at him under lidded eyes. “You’re not hurting me. You’re claiming me. I want to be covered in your marks all the time.”
Geir sucked in a breath. He couldn’t think of anything he wanted more. Declan, perpetually covered with round, red marks that proclaimed him his.
Without a second thought, he wrapped his tentacles and arms around Declan, covering his torso and arms and pulling him tighter in.
“That’s right,” Declan breathed. “Like that.” His breaths were coming faster, and he whimpered as Geir let the teeth embedded in his suckers bite into him. He would need to be careful not to do this too much, too often. Or at least to take care of Declan’s skin afterward.
But for now, he wanted Declan to know who he belonged to. He started tracing patterns down Declan’s skin, mapping all of the trails where he’d marked him.
A knock sounded at the door.
He planned to ignore it. He was warm and content with Declan in his arms. Everything else was unimportant.
The knocking resumed. “Geir?” a deep voice called.
He grunted, holding Declan protectively. His kraken side didn’t want anyone else near him. His human side didn’t really, either. He certainly didn’t want to have a visitor.
“Geir?” The voice came a little louder. “Hello?” The knock came again.
Dammit. Geir set Declan gently on the couch and then stalked off toward the door, determined to make the intruder go away.
“Gaah-yiiieeeh-errrr…” sing-songed Declan. “You need pants.” Declan found this hilarious, and his laughter brought a smile to Geir’s face. He didn’t intend to open the door enough for it to matter, but he detoured to the bedroom anyway to grab a pair.
He finally wrenched open the door. “What?”
“Grandfather,” the visitor greeted him solemnly, then waited for Geir’s nod in return. “I thought you might…” He stopped speaking abruptly when Declan appeared in the doorway. “Oh, hello!”
Geir looked down the petite man at his side, his hair tousled from the lake and Geir’s fingers. His silver eyeshadow sparkled in the dim light. It was smudged and faded from their swim, which only made him more alluring.
Declan’s lean body was wrapped in the green blanket from the couch and Geir knew that he was alluringly naked underneath. The thought made his pulse race. He pulled him possessively against his side and was rewarded by a beaming smile.
He wanted to close the door and go back to what they’d been doing on the couch, but of course Declan had other ideas.
“Hey,” he reached one lean arm out of his blanket covering, “I’m Declan. So pleased to meet you.”
The man looked Declan over, though Geir couldn’t quite decipher his expression. Suspicion, certainly. But also… curiosity? Attraction? Excitement? Desire for something, it seemed.
The stranger was taller than Geir, which was unusual, and bulging with muscles. His features suggested that he was one of the People, but perhaps with mixed ancestry. His hair was just a bit wavier, his skin darker, and the scruff on his cheeks thicker. Declan would probably think he was handsome, with his well-proportioned features and easy smile.
Geir gripped Declan’s hip harder.
The man put out a hand. “Rohahen. Though people call me Ro.” Geir would probably forget the name by the end of the visit. Names swam so easily through his mind.
“I was telling the Chief yesterday that we hadn’t seen you in a while and I thought you might enjoy some vegetables from our garden,” he addressed Geir.